Pam Haezewindt HMI, Subject Adviser for Modern Languages, Ofsted

For the last three years HMI or Additional Inspectors (AI) have inspected modern languages in a sample of primary schools across England. This is part of Ofsted’s subject survey programme. The findings from inspection provide an annual overview of strengths and weaknesses in the subject. Full reports are published every three years with recommendations for schools, support agencies and the government. These reports also provide a yardstick against which schools can judge their own progress. 

Each year the survey sample is selected randomly by the research and international division at Ofsted. The sample ensures a reasonable distribution of schools by place and type and that individual schools are not over-visited by inspectors.

If your school is selected, you will first hear about it through a telephone call from one of the administrative staff attached to the languages team. He/she will inform you that a languages inspection will take place on a certain date and arrange a convenient time for the HMI or AI to telephone. The inspection will take place two weeks from the initial telephone call and it will last for one day. The timing of the day’s inspection will be arranged as far as possible to suit the school.

Over the telephone the inspector will discuss the types of things he or she would like to do during the day and the school will be able to say what it can accommodate. Here are the types of inspection activity that will most likely take place during the day:

• an introductory meeting with the headteacher/subject coordinator to provide a contextual overview of the quality and effectiveness of languages in the school and views of the subject’s impact
• a further meeting with the subject co-ordinator
• observation of language lessons
• discussions with groups of children from Key Stage 2
• sampling any children’s work available
• review of any subject documentation, such as schemes of work and subject policies or handbook; it would be useful if any assessment data and monitoring records could also made
• a scrutiny of a small sample of relevant school documentation, such as the school improvement plan, evidence of any monitoring in languages
• feedback at the end of the visit

In all visits inspectors will want to observe one or more lessons. Sometimes languages lessons will not be scheduled for the day the inspector has planned to visit. Sometimes the day of the week can be changed, but in the past some schools have been willing to make some changes to provide some evidence of language teaching.  Having said that, in normal circumstances the inspector will do his or her best not to disrupt the school’s routines in any way.

The school will receive a letter by email confirming these arrangements. 

Where lessons are observed, teachers will be given brief feedback on strengths and areas that could be improved. The oral feedback at the end of the inspection will be given under the headings used for whole school inspections: achievement and standards, personal development, teaching and learning, the curriculum and leadership and management, using similar criteria as that for whole school inspections to judge this.

In addition, one of the principal issues we inspect in primary languages is how far the school has moved towards implementing the languages entitlement for all its Key Stage 2 pupils by 2010. In order to do so we have separate criteria for judgements which we make available to the school. For example, where a school’s progress towards implementing the entitlement is judged good, it will broadly meet the following descriptor:

"There is an effective model of delivery of languages in Key Stage 2 and a clear rationale for it. At least two year groups learn a language and they achieve well in at least listening and speaking. Teaching and learning are good, lesson content is well designed and this includes some explicit teaching of reading and writing. Information and communications technology is used to enhance teaching. Pupils have positive attitudes towards languages, and boys and girls are equally well motivated.

Their progress in languages is assessed and recorded in at least listening and speaking, and they are aware of their progress. There is good provision for gifted and talented and pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LDD). Where appropriate, there is effective guidance and support for pupils when making decisions about which language to study. The school makes effective use of its knowledge of pupils’ linguistic background to promote languages learning.

Senior leaders are supportive of languages and have planned and implemented effectively the introduction of languages. This includes some monitoring of achievement and provision, and taking relevant action, though this is at an early stage. There are also plans, and some action, to secure transfer of assessment information to receiving secondary schools and to work with them to ease transition."

Finally, a letter is written to the school summarising the outcomes of the inspection and providing areas for improvement which have been agreed at the oral feedback. Here is an extract from a recent letter under the heading ‘Achievement’. The school is in the early stages of introducing languages.

"From early starting points Year 3 pupils are making good progress. They listen attentively and respond well. They are confident to ‘have a go’ and take risks which are the marks of good language learners. Their pronunciation and intonation are mostly good because they have such a good role model in their teacher who speaks French during much of the 45 minute lesson. They are beginning to develop sound spelling links but this is still in its infancy. Many pupils showed that they could recognise the words of a song on screen and on cards.

So far writing has not been developed. They demonstrated some understanding of masculine and feminine and that there are different systems in different languages, with two boys talking about the similarities and differences in Arabic and Gujarati. They understand a little bit about France and they know very well and were very articulate about why it is important to learn new languages. Pupils are exceptionally well behaved and responsive when learning a language and they say that they enjoy it a lot. They are very aware of the variety of home and heritage languages that are spoken between them but say that they are not used a lot in different ways in lessons in school."

The letter will be sent to the school, with a copy to the local authority, and it will be available to the inspection team during the next school inspection. It will also be put on the internet, as are all inspection reports.